Former Time reporter Matthew Cooper has been busy with a new venture called Portfolio. Washington Post media columnist Howard Kurtz has seen a copy of Cooper's first article for the new publication and it has some revelations about PlameGate:
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Now it can be told: Matt Cooper thought that Time magazine's strategy in the Valerie Plame leak investigation was "insane." He was unhappy when his lawyer wanted to simultaneously represent I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the man whose identity Cooper was risking jail to protect. And Judith Miller got on his nerves.
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Cooper says he realized early on that he would probably lose the subpoena battle over his refusal to testify about his 2003 discussions regarding Plame with White House aides Libby and Karl Rove. But Time rejected Cooper's plea to compromise by seeking waivers of confidentiality from the officials. "Behind the scenes I desperately wanted to make a deal that could get us out of this mess," he writes.
As to Olson, Libby and Cooper:
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Norman Pearlstine, then Time Inc.'s editor in chief, decided to hire conservative lawyer Ted Olson. But Cooper's opinion of the former solicitor general declined when Olson asked if he could also represent Libby, which Cooper saw as a conflict since "Libby's defense ultimately involved my word against his." Olson quickly backed off.
Go on over to Howard's column to read the rest, including what Cooper said about Judith Miller.As to why he would write this all up now, Cooper's answer was:
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"I guess it was cathartic for me to just put it down," Cooper says in an interview. "And I'd already done the reporting."
I just hope he didn't rely on those sloppy notes again.
Portfolio, "The glossy business magazine from Conde Nast" debuts today.